The love he had for her
by queen-of-butterflies
Summary: Peeta Mellark always loved Katniss Everdeen. This is the story how he fell in love with her. One-shot


_Are you, are you  
Coming to the tree  
They strung up a man  
They say who murdered three..._

Every time she sang, the world around her fell silent, even the birds stopped their song to listen to hers. My father told me once that he loved her mother, but he could not compete with a man from the mines. He, just like his daughter, had the gift to make the birds stop their song. At first I did not believe my father's story, but when I heard her song it was mesmerizing and I could not wipe the smile of my face for a whole week.

Even then I already knew I loved her, but as shy as I was I never talked to her. I just watched her from afar, silent and hidden. When she was a little older she started hunting in the woods, everyday she brought her game to my family's bakery to trade it for some bread. Sometimes my father asked me to trade with her and I always made sure to smuggle some cheese buns and cookies for her sister in her bag.

One day was burned in my brain, it must have been a bad day for her, because my mother found her going through the bakery's garbage. My mother she...was not a nice woman you could say. She chased her round the bakery and told her to never come back. She said some nasty things to her like "our waste is too good for you, you useless seam slut." It hurt me to hear my mother call her that, because I knew one day she would be my wife.

I looked out of the window and saw her sitting under a tree, it was raining outside and she was drenched to her bones. I knew that I would not be able to look in a mirror anymore if I did not help her now. So I burned some bread. Intentionally. I knew I would get a beating for that, but I did not care. Because I would survive it, but I did not think that she would survive the day without something to eat.

Even though my mother asked me to throw the bread to the pigs in our backyard, I threw it in the other directions, to her. I did not have enough time to see her reaction, I turned around and ran back into the building.

I was nervous the next day, what if she came up to me and wanted to thank me? I am rambling when I am nervous and I did not want to make a fool out of myself. But my fears were uncalled for, she never even looked at me the whole day. But after school, she picked a flower, a dandelion, and looked me straight in the eye. I knew that was her way of thanking me for saving her whole family. The small smile on her face was worth all the slaps and punches I got from my mother.

Since I became twelve I always feared the reaping, but I was fine till one year. Like every year they started with the girl tribute from District 12, I still had a few calm minutes. When they called her sister's name I knew that she would volunteer even before she knew it for herself. It only took seconds for her to scream the words I feared to hear "I volunteer. I volunteer in her place!" A single tear found it's way down my cheek.

Then it was the boy's turn. "Peeta Mellark". In that moment I knew that I would do everything in my power to make sure that she would return home. Nobody would miss me but she had a family, she had to return for her sister's sake.

The whole star-crossed lovers charade was not my idea it was Haymitch's he was sure that it was an act on both our sides. But I did not act, it was all real. I wanted to protect hear but turns out that she protected me all along. Without her I would have bled to death, she risked her live going to that feast and getting medicine for me. I could never repay her for that. We were the last one's left and after they made the announcement that there could not be two winners, I knew that I would give my life willingly for her. But as stubborn as she is she did not want to leave without me, some part of me hoped that it was because she loved me.

She did not, love me I mean. The minute we got back to District 12 and moved to the Victors Village, she stopped talking to me, she would not even look at me. She spent all her time till the victors tour in the woods, with Gale and it broke my heart. When we got onto the train for the tour everything changed, she opened up the me and I knew that it was not an act, there were no cameras on the train.

One night she had a horrible nightmare, she screamed so loud that I ran to her room, to my surprise she asked me to stay. For the whole tour I slept in her bed, nothing happened but holding her was enough for me. I thought we could finally be happy, get married and start a family, but once again President Snow had other plans for us. The games never end, of that I was certain.

The second I heard the announcement I knew that Katniss would try to get Haymitch to volunteer in my place, but she could not stop me from doing the same for him. Once again it was me and her in the arena. This games were different, we had allies but I knew that she did not trust them and to be honest I did not either. The night they asked us to split up was the worst night of my life, I felt it in my bones that something would happen to her but we had no choice but to follow their orders.

Everything went wrong the second I left her side, Beetee's Plan was not working because someone had cut the wire. That was when I heard her scream, my brain did not function anymore. I just knew that I had to find her, protect her. The growl that escaped my throat was animal like, I sounded like an animal that knew it's mate was in great danger. But before I could find her, the lightning hit the tree and the arena's dome burst, someone must have connected the wire to it. The last thing I remember is a Hovercraft picking me up.

_Are you, are you  
Coming to the tree  
They strung up a man  
They say who murdered three.  
Strange things did happen here  
No stranger would it be  
If we met at midnight  
In the hanging tree._

When I woke up there was only one thing on my mind. Katniss, I had to find Katniss. I screamed her name till my throat was sore, seconds after I stopped screaming the door to the Hovercraft's command room opened and out came Finnick Odair.

"Where is she?" , I whispered. I was prepared for the worst, what if she was dead? I would not survive it. "She is in another Hovercraft, you will see her once we reach District 13." I was confused, there was no District 13 it was destroyed years ago. "District 13?", I wondered aloud.

"They rebuild it, it is underground now", Finnick said before he left the room and returned to the front of the Hovercraft. It felt like ours till we reached what Finnick called District 13, I could not wait to leave the Hovercraft. Is she okay?

The second I stepped onto the landing platform my eyes darted around, searching for her. there were too many people, I could not make out her face. That was when I heard a scream behind me, the moment I turned around a body flew into my arms, her familiar smell reached my nose and I knew she was safe.

"Katniss", I whispered in her hair, "I love you." Nothing could prepare me for her answer, she never talked about her feelings with anyone not even with me. "I love you too Peeta, so much. Do not ever leave me again Peeta, we will not split up for anyone ever again"


End file.
